Digital future for Sydney’s street furniture

The City of Sydney will call for renewed expressions of interest from 10 July, 2018 for one of the most sought after outdoor advertising contracts in Australia.

The City is refining its requirements as part of the second expressions of interest process and is seeking an experienced service provider to deliver new street furniture, outdoor advertising assets and free public wi-fi to the city’s millions of daily visitors.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore said this is an opportunity for the right service provider to help define the future of Sydney’s street furniture and digital signage.

“Our street furniture and outdoor advertising contract is one of the largest of its kind in Australia,” the Lord Mayor said.

“We need to find the right service provider to give our residents, workers and visitors the free wi-fi connection and smart, well-designed street furniture a global city deserves.”

More than 2,500 pieces of street furniture, including bus shelters, kiosks, public toilets, seats, litter bins, communications panels and more, will be included in the new contract.

The City’s existing street furniture contracts have been in place since 1998 and are due to expire in 2019. A portion of advertising on street furniture items will be reserved for cultural events that support the arts and encourage people to take part in local creative endeavours.

“The new street furniture and outdoor advertising contract will change the way our city functions. It will bring new technology to our streets, deliver free internet to our devices and enable smart city platforms, changing the way our residents, workers and visitors interact with our city,” the Lord Mayor said.

“We’ve refined our contractual requirements following the first expressions of interest process which began in late 2017.

“This is because interested providers told us the market needed more time to respond to the complex nature of the contract and work on solutions to give residents, workers and visitors the best possible outcome.

“Outdoor advertising has experienced enormous growth over recent years as digital advertising has become more popular and offers greater opportunities.

“This is an enormous opportunity for an experienced operator to have unrivalled coverage in the Sydney CBD and for our residents, businesses and visitors to benefit as a result of the advertising revenue.

“We’re looking for modern, sustainable and attractive street furniture that is functional and blends in seamlessly with our urban environment.

“Eventually we could see real-time emergency, event and transport information displayed on bus shelters.

“We want to make sure no one is left behind in this shift to a digital future, so we’re to looking local and international providers with new ideas to deliver us fast and free public wi-fi and the best possible smart, furniture.”

To minimise disruption to the community, the existing street furniture items will be progressively removed and replaced with new items from 2019.